Number 206 - July 2000
What Defines a Good Program?
By Crystal Kauer, May 2000 Blue Chip News,
Saginaw Valley Computer Association
    Once upon a time--a long time ago--I started an accounting business in my home. The year was 1986 and the computer was the latest and greatest--an IBM AT with a large 10 mb hard drive.

    For some time I had been researching various software packages for accounting and decided to go with Real World. The main reason for choosing this software was, in addition to all the other features which seemed to be common at that time, it allowed me to create Financial Statements and other Schedules to look as I wanted them to. I did not care for the canned printouts of the other packages. Also it was within my budget. At that time all software packages were very expensive compared with today's prices.

    In September of 1986 I purchased Real World's Version 4.0A. I bought the modules for General Ledger, Payroll, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable at the price of $2,800--that's $700 for each module. For another year or two I updated as required. When I no longer used the payroll system, as the folks I did work for did not have a large number of employees and it was easier for me to do the payroll by hand, so I stopped buying the updates.

    When I started using my laser printer to print the Financial Statements I ran into a problem. This software is designed to be used with printers that can be adjusted for print size. It does not have the ability to do so within the software. Of course, in 1986 there were no laser printers. As a result I had to reformat the Financial Statements and am now happily printing them on the laser printer.

    Last fall I wrote to Real World asking if my software was Y2K compatible. I think they thought I being funny, as they never responded. Actually I was kind of hoping they would have a patch available.

    Now it is the year 2000. When I rolled over the end of the year 1999 the software asked me if I realized I was rolling over into a prior period (it only recognized the last two digits of the year). I respond that I was and it closed out the 1999 year for me.

    The next thing I did was to go back in and change the calendar to the year 2000 and the February ending date to the 29th. As I had hoped, everything was there except my Balance Sheet beginning balances.
    I entered the beginning balances as a January 1st Journal Entry, then entered my journals for the month of January and printed out the Financial Statements for the end of January--everything worked just fine.

    The only difference is that when I start up the software it asks me for today's date. I recently called the Real World Sales Office and was offered an update from my 1987 DOS version to Windows 98 version that would carry forward all my data from the DOS version. The selling price today of each module is $1,700.00. I was offered the update for $1000.00 per module. It looks like they were giving me credit for the original $700.00 I paid back in 1986. (In 1986 dollars - ed)

    I really don't mind the small inconvenience of entering the date--it sure beats purchasing new software. I am glad I bought from Real World as my accounting software still does all the things I need. I am quite amazed that this 14-year-old DOS based software has survived all of my computer updates and windows. I know that one day I will be forced to buy new accounting software, but in the meantime I am enjoying what I have.

TOGGLE Editor's Note:
    You've heard us rant about this before. If you've found a piece of software that lets you do what you want, the way that you want it, stick with it. You don't necessarily have to sign up for every upgrade. But if you are required to interface with or exchange data with other computers be aware of the upgrade changes so you can remain compatible with them. It is also necessary that you be fully familiar with the subject matter dealt with by the software, in this case Accounting, so you can test the reasonableness of the input requirements and the output products.

    Heck, we still use DOS-based WordStar 4 to do the initial editing of this newsletter. We learned to use it two decades ago, know most of its idiosyncracies and ins and outs, and in most cases find it much easier to use than present-day GUI-based word processor/desktop publishers. We don't plan to change any time soon.
  Number 206 - July 2000